ISLAMABAD/NEW DELHI, 26 May — US President George W. Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin said in St. Petersburg, Russia, yesterday they were satisfied with their historic summit but voiced concern over rising tension between India and Pakistan.
Focusing their new-found solidarity on the world’s latest hot spot, Bush and Putin jointly called on the leaders of the two South Asian rivals to step away from the brink of war and end saber rattling over their border conflict. Putin invited the two leaders for one-on-one talks in Kazakhstan next month. The call came as Pakistan test fired medium-range surface-to-surface Ghauri missile yesterday. (See also Page 7)
Putin said he was happy with the summit’s outcome, although he did observe that he probably took the greater political risk by putting his name on a treaty that Russia’s military hawks and Communists fear could leave a permanent scar on Moscow’s defenses.
One of the main topics skirted gingerly by both sides yesterday was what Bush on Friday called the “serious” question of Russia supplying dual-purpose technologies to Iran. Among other disputes, Bush took a firm line on Russia’s objection to Western demands that it liberalize its tariffs policy and the economy generally before being admitted to the World Trade Organization.
However, the two leaders did unite in their views on the escalating conflict between India and Pakistan over the Himalayan region of Kashmir. Bush called on Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf to prevent cross-border attacks in Kashmir which have edged the two close to war.
“It’s very important for President Musharraf to do what he said he was going to do ... and that is to stop the incursions across the border,” Bush said of his key ally in the US-led war against terrorism.
Putin gave a new turn to the escalating Indo-Pak tension by saying that he would invite Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and Musharraf in early June for talks. While showing Bush his hometown St. Petersburg, Putin said, “I hope they will come, so that we could discuss ways to prevent further escalation of the conflict.”
Putin would invite the two to a one-on-one meeting on the sidelines of a summit of the Conference on Cooperation and Confidence Building Measures in Asia to be held in Almaty, Kazakhstan, on June 3-5, according to the Russian Foreign Ministry press service.
Pakistan welcomed the Russian initiative and said it would “respond positively”, while India gave a more guarded reply. In Islamabad, officials said bilateral talks were possible but there was “nothing to suggest” a face-to-face encounter between Vajpayee and Musharraf would take place.
Pakistan Information Minister Nisar Memon told reporters in Islamabad that Pakistan will “respond positively” to the Russian proposal. But the Indian Foreign Ministry was more guarded, saying there were no indications the pair would meet.
Musharraf said that while the country did not want a conflict with India it was ready for war. “We do not want war but we are not afraid of war. We are ready for war. Let no one have any misunderstanding about this,” he told an Islamic conference in the capital.
Musharraf said the test missile “has successfully and accurately hit the target... We should be proud of this achievement. Allah-o-Akbar, Allah-o-Akbar, Allah-o-Akbar (God is great, God is great, God is great).”
An official government statement in Islamabad said the test of the medium-range surface-to-surface Hatf-V (Ghauri) ballistic missile “demonstrates Pakistan’s determination to defend itself, strengthen national security and consolidate strategic balance in the region”.
India reacted angrily to the firing, saying it was “not impressed”, but Musharraf retorted that it was not meant to impress New Delhi. “They say they are not impressed. We do not want to impress them. We want to defend our country,” Musharraf said.
Vajpayee shrugged off the missile test by Pakistan as not “significant” and asked the West to pressure Islamabad to stop supporting militants in Kashmir. US Secretary of State Colin Powell said in Saint Petersburg that the United States was “disappointed” that Pakistan had test fired a nuclear-capable missile yesterday.
The Indian prime minister kicked off a vacation in Himalayan foothills resort of Manali with a grim warning that there was a limit to nuclear India’s patience in tolerating cross-border strikes from Pakistan. “Our patience is not limitless. I am saying this very openly that we have waited long enough and now it is for the global opinion to build pressure on Pakistan and divert it from the path of terrorism,” Vajpayee told reporters.
Vajpayee at the start of his holiday also spoke by telephone to French President Jacques Chirac and Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien yesterday over the growing tensions with Pakistan.
At least 11 Pakistani civilians were killed yesterday when Indian troops in the disputed Kashmir region fired into Pakistani territory, hospital sources and official media in Pakistani city of Sialkot said. Eleven people were killed and 20 wounded when Indian forces fired into several villages in Pakistan’s central Punjab province, Pakistani officials said. Witnesses said Indian troops used machine guns and fired mortar bombs into Sujitgarh and Chaprar sectors along what Pakistan calls the “working boundary” that separates Punjab province and Indian-ruled Jammu.
